A website and blog that celebrates the highly individualistic music of the fascinating French composer Florent Schmitt (1870-1958) — as well as the scholars and musicians who study and perform his works.

Florent Schmitt: The Composer Interviewed

Florent Schmitt, photographed in the 1950s at the time he was asked to participate in several interviews about his life and career as a composer and musician dating back to the early 1900s.

Courtesy of several audio archives in Paris, music-lovers now have access to several interviews of Florent Schmitt, conducted towards the end of his long career as a composer.

Since the interviews were conducted in French, the major points Schmitt made are summarized in the articles below for the benefit on non-French language speakers. The articles also provide YouTube links to hear audio of the actual interviews.

These first-person documents, which provide direct historical links to France’s Golden Age of classical music, are extremely rare — which is what makes it even more gratifying when they come to light.

Of further interest is video footage of Florent Schmitt filmed at the composer’s home in St-Cloud, probably in the early or mid-1950s. This short clip is the only such documentation I have ever seen — and likewise represents a link with music history.

Special thanks are due to Franco-American conductor David Grandis, musicologist and author Nicolas Southon, plus musician and audio specialist Peter Joelson for their efforts in finding, preparing and uploading these invaluable in-person interviews for the benefit of a new generation of music-lovers.